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The good news on the recruiting trail continued on Thursday for Notre Dame, with star 2025 Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s Prep defender Anthony Sacca including the Irish in his updated top five schools list. The 6-3, 225-pound linebacker also included Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Duke in that top group.

It wasn’t overly surprising to see Notre Dame in that list, with the staff doing a tremendous job and making Sacca feel like a priority very early on. Add in his personal relationship with Al Golden, who has known the Sacca family for a long time, and it feels like a natural inclusion.

The big surprise on the list was that Penn State wasn’t included. They were seen as a top contender for Sacca for a while, especially with his father Tony Sacca having played quarterback for the Nittany Lions from 1988-91. It appears that Sacca is interested in forging his own path.

The Philadelphia native was a huge reason that St. Joseph’s Prep finished with a 13-1 overall record and a state championship in 2023. Sacca finished with 67 total tackles and two interceptions on the season.

The Hawk’s only loss on the season came in the opener against IMG Academy, coming out just short 17 to 14. In the other 13 games, St. Joseph’s Prep outscored their opponents by a 565-133 point margin.

Sacca is considered a potentially elite player in the 2025 recruiting class. He is ranked as high as the No. 52 overall player and the No. 6 linebacker in the class by Rivals. Sacca is a near consensus four-star recruit by every major recruiting platform, the lone exception being On3 that has him ranked as a three-star.

Some of the top schools who have offered, and are pursuing Sacca outside of his finalists, include Georgia, Michigan, Miami, Penn State, USC, Oregon, Florida State, Texas A&M, Tennessee, South Carolina, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Rutgers among others. 

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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